Donation FAQs

Why should I donate to the Internet Archive?
The Internet Archive is a small non-profit library with a huge mission: to give everyone access to all knowledge, forever. For free. Together we are building a special place where you can read, learn and explore. The Internet Archive has only 150 staff but runs the #250 website in the world. Reader privacy is very important to us, so we don’t share your personal information. We don’t accept ads. But we still need to pay for servers, staff and rent. That’s where you can help us. If you find our site useful, please give what you can today. Thank you.

Where does my donation go?

Technology: We preserve 100 million web pages per day! So far, we’ve saved 45 petabytes (that’s 45,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) of data. That takes a lot of servers, bandwidth and power. The cost of storing information in our own data centers is a fraction of the cost to store it in Amazon Cloud.

Projects:

We convene the Decentralized Web Summit, dedicated to creating the Web we want and the Web we deserve. A Web that is private, safe and locked open for good.

This year, we archived more than 25,000 Commodore 64 Floppies, and more than 5,000 Winamp skins with the ability to play all our audio in Winamp.

This year, we’ve fixed 1.5 million broken links in Wikipedia using the Wayback Machine

Staff: Most top websites like ours employ a huge staff. We employ 150 people around the world—engineers, archivists, librarians and book scanners. Most of our staff could be making much more money at a company driven by profit, but they choose to work for a non-profit powered by a huge mission. Hiring and retaining this kind of talent is imperative to our mission.

How do I donate to the Internet Archive?
To donate, please visit our donation page. You can donate using any major credit card (including VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express), PayPal, bank transfer, stock or by sending a check to the Internet Archive at 300 Funston Ave, San Francisco, CA 94118. We also accept the following cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Zcash.

How do I donate to the Internet Archive Canada?
The Internet Archive Canada is a Not For Profit Corporation, registered under number 435509-1. The Internet Archive Canada is currently not registered as a public charity. Canadian citizens may deduct their contribution on any income earned in the United States only. To donate, please send checks to:

Can I donate to the Archive on a monthly basis?
To make a pledge / monthly sustaining gift, please visit our donation page and click ‘monthly sustaining gift’ and indicate how much you would like to contribute.

Credit Card – please email donations@archive.org and we will be happy to help update or make changes to your pledge. Or call our Administration Office at 415-561-6767 and we can assist you over the phone.

How do I donate by Check (via mail)?
Please make the check payable to “Internet Archive” and send to the below address. Please do not mail cash.

Internet Archive
300 Funston Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94118
USA

Our preference is for checks in U.S. dollars, drawn on U.S. bank accounts. Checks in currencies other than U.S. dollars, or from bank accounts outside the U.S., can be very expensive for us to process, which reduces the value of your gift. If you do not have a U.S. bank account, you can maximize the value of your donation by giving via PayPal or wire transfer.

How do I donate Cryptocurrency?
At the Internet Archive, we are big fans of the cryptocurrency movement and have been trying to do our part to test and support alternative means of commerce. We’ve been accepting Bitcoin donations since 2012, and recently added Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Zcash. To donate, please click here or donate to one of the following addresses:

How do I donate stock?
To donate stock, please email donations@archive.org and we will send you a return email with instructions.

How do I make a Wire Transfer?
To wire funds domestically or internationally, please email donations@archive.org and we will send you a return email with wire transfer information.

How can I get my company to match my donation?
Check with your Human Resources department for specific information on whether they have a matching program and how to request a matching donation.

How can I support you via Amazon Smile?
When you sign up for Amazon Smile and choose the Internet Archive as your donation beneficiary, Amazon will donate .5% of every purchase you make to the Archive. To sign up and support us, visit: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3242767

Are my donations tax-deductible?
The Internet Archive is a California nonprofit public charity that is tax-exempt under section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax ID Number 94-3242767. Donations are tax deductible on US income only.

If I make a donation, how do I get my tax receipt?
All donors who give through our online donation flow will receive a tax receipt via email. Depending on the payment method used, it can take 1 – 7 business days for the receipt to arrive. Donors using an offline method such as sending a check will receive their receipt at the mailing address provided with the donation, unless they provide us with an email address. Please note when using offline methods that we recommend retaining a copy of your bank’s confirmation of the donation for your records as well.

Why is there a minimum donation for credit cards?
We receive small donations from people who don’t have much money, and we are really, really grateful to those donors.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people to use donation mechanisms such as ours to test stolen credit cards to see if they work. Those people typically use a very small amount for their testing: a $5 minimum donation amount seems to deter them.

Can I give you a targeted or restricted donation to be used for something very specific?
The Internet Archive prefers unrestricted donations, so we can direct your donation to the area where the funds are most needed. Every restriction imposes administrative overhead and planning costs, and increases internal complexity. We accept restricted gifts on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested in making a restricted gift, please contact donations@archive.org

What is your refund policy?
If for any reason you wish to have your donation refunded, please contact us via email at donations@archive.org. We will need the following information in order to process your refund:

Date of donation (All refund requests must be made within 90 days of donation)

Amount donated

Full name

Payment method used (credit card, bank transfer, check…)

Country of origin

Reason for the refund

Please note that some payment methods may not support refunds, or require refunds to be made through the payment method (card) utilized, so additional information may be required to process your refund. All refunds will be processed as quickly as possible, but processing times may vary depending on the payment method.

We can only refund cryptocurrency donations in its original coin. Because we do not store cryptocurrency, refunds will be calculated based on the U.S. Dollar amount we received via instant exchange at the time of the donation, using our payment processor’s cryptocurrency sell rate when the refund is issued. The Internet Archive is not responsible for any change in value based on fluctuating exchange rates.

How do I make a physical donation to the Internet Archive?
To make a physical donation to the Archive (books, software, 78s, equipment, etc) please fill out the Physical Donation Form.

If items being shipped are from our wishlist please clearly label the outside of the parcel on the top, front, and one side as “WISHLIST” so that we route these packages correctly when we receive them.

Please note! Items accepted by Internet Archive become the sole property of Internet Archive, and shall be recorded as an unrestricted gift. Items are not returnable. Internet Archive reserves the right to manage this property as it wishes.

How do I get a receipt for my physical donation?
The Internet Archive can provide a receipt that says the donation was accepted, but we cannot ascribe an appraised value. If you should need a determination of value, please secure an independent appraisal prior to donation.

If I can’t afford to donate, or don’t want to, what else can I do to support the Internet Archive?
There are many ways to show your support. Your time is just as important as a monetary contribution. Please utilize the Archive and share your favorite collections with friends and family. You can get an Internet Archive Virtual Library Card, sign up for our newsletter, read our blog, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to volunteer for the Archive, please email info@archive.org for more information.